There are advances being made almost daily in the disciplines required to make space and its contents accessible.
This blog brings together a lot of that info, as it is reported, tracking the small steps into space that will make it just another place we carry out normal human economic, leisure and living activities.

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The bright object seen in this Hubble image is a single and little-studied star named TYC 3203-450-1, located in the constellation of Lacerta (The Lizard). The star is much closer than the much more distant galaxy.
via Science DailyZazzle Space Exploration market place

more » Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. Stars in the two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide in the course of the ponderous cataclysm that lasts for hundreds of millions of years. But the galaxies' large clouds of molecular gas and dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formation near the center of the cosmic wreckage. Spanning over 500 thousand light-years, this stunning view also reveals new star clusters and matter flung far from the scene of the accident by gravitational tidal forces. The remarkable mosaicked image was constructed using data from the ground-based Subaru telescope to bring out large-scale and faint tidal streams, and Hubble Space Telescope data of extreme detail in the bright cores. The suggestive visual appearance of the extended arcing structures gives the galaxy pair its popular name - The Antennae.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN1) and the American Physical Society (APS2) signed an agreement today for SCOAP3(link is external) – the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics. Under this agreement, high-energy physics articles published in three leading journals of the APS will be open access as from January 2018.

All authors worldwide will be able to publish their high-energy physics articles in Physical Review C, Physical Review D and Physical Review Letters at no direct cost. This will allow free and unrestricted exchange of scientific information within the global scientific community and beyond, for the advancement of science.

“Open access reflects values and goals that have been enshrined in CERN’s Convention for more than sixty years, such as the widest dissemination of scientific results. We are very pleased that the APS is joining SCOAP3 and we look forward to welcoming more partners for the long-term success of this initiative”, said Fabiola Gianotti, CERN’s Director General.

APS CEO Kate Kirby commented that, “APS has long supported the principles of open access to the benefit of the scientific enterprise. As a non-profit society publisher and the largest international publisher of high-energy physics content, APS has chosen to participate in the SCOAP3 initiative in support of this community.”

With this new agreement between CERN and the APS, SCOAP3 will cover about 90 percent of the journal literature in the field of high-energy physics.

Convened and managed by CERN, SCOAP3 is the largest scale global open access initiative ever built. It involves a global consortium of 3,000 libraries and research institutes from 44 countries, with the additional support of eight research funding agencies. Since its launch in 2014, it has made 15 000 articles by about 20 000 scientists from 100 countries accessible to anyone.

The initiative is possible through funds made available from the redirection of former subscription money. Publishers reduce subscription prices for journals participating in the initiative, and those savings are pooled by SCOAP3 partners to pay for the open access costs, for the wider benefit of the community.

via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.cern/about/updates/2017/04/cern-and-american-physical-society-sign-scoap3

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Through Big Bang studies, Dr. Steigman helped show that most matter in the universe was not made of atoms, a finding that led to modern conceptions of dark matter and dark energy.
via New York Times

You'll also find a selection of great gifts with an astronomy / space theme - from phone and iPad cases to posters, clocks, greetings cards, necklaces and mugs. Many are personalizable and all are customizable - click any to try before you buy!